


Doc, what's in the box?

by Dabberdees



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Cats are brilliant, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 23:53:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19283779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dabberdees/pseuds/Dabberdees
Summary: The Doctor decides that the TARDIS isn't a home without a cat... or four of them to be precise.Idea from a post from thedoctorispan on tumblr, so credit to them for the idea!





	Doc, what's in the box?

“Have any of you seen the Doc?” Graham asked, walking back into the console room with a cuppa. “Cause I can’t find her anywhere.”

“She said she had something to do, Graham,” Yaz revealed, casually as Graham frowns at her. “She left about an hour ago.”

“Something to do?” His frown deepens as he takes a sip of his tea. “Since when has the Doc got something to do on Earth that doesn’t involve at least one of us?”

Ryan shrugs, looking up from his phone. “Dunno, but she rushed out pretty quickly when she asked what the time was.”

Yaz nods, along with Ryan. “Looked like someone on a mission.”

“And none of you thought to ask where she was going?” They shake their heads, and Graham takes in a deep breath, his free hand coming upwards and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “So that didn’t seem at least-” He waves his free hand through the air. “-a little concerning?” They both shrug at him. “If we get a phone call saying she’s been arrested I swear-”

“Gramps, she’s a two-thousand-year-old alien.” Ryan pointed out. “Not a child, or a teenager.”

“Who just last week tried climbing up the drain pipe to affix something to my roof, son,” He sighs.

“Oh, good point.”

Yaz stares at the pair of them, bewildered. “What did she do?”

Ryan looks over to her. “Said that if she fixed this thing to the aerial on the roof, we’d get TV channels from Triangulum II.”

“And I can just about get my head round the Sky Box, hardly need to get channels from a completely different world,” Graham informed, headache building with worry. “Seriously, did she mention anything… at all?”

It’s in that moment that there’s an urgent banging at the TARDIS doors, that they all turn and frown at.

“I’ll get it,” said Yaz, already making her way over and quickly stepping out of the way when the Doctor comes barreling past, a box with holes in it held within her hands. “Doctor?”

The Doctor comes to a standstill in the console room, eyes flicking to each member of the Fam. “You lot, follow me, got something to show you!” She turns away again, only stopping at the edge of the corridor leading off from the console room. “Come on, get a shift on!” She charges off again, leaving no chance for either of them to say anything to her.

“Oh bleeding hell,” Graham muttered under his breath, quickly placing down his tea and following after her. He glances back at Ryan and Yaz, both on his heels. “Heaven’s knows what she’s got in that box.”

They each see her coat tails flapping around the corner and into the living room, and as they enter, they watch her as she carefully places the suspicious box onto the floor. She looks up to them. “Took you lot long enough.”

“To be fair, Doctor, you hardly left us a chance to say anything before rushing off,” Ryan said, eyes locked onto the mystery box.

Yaz walks past Graham and Ryan, heading further in and watching the box as well. “What were you doing, Doctor?”

She turns to Yaz and beams a smile at her. “I got us all a little something.”

“Something?” Yaz replied, nervous feeling raising within her. “What did you get?”

The Doctor smiles again. “Companions!”

Graham walks forward now. “Define ‘Companions’, Doc?”

The Doctor scrunches her face at him. “You don’t know what companions mean, Graham?”

Graham rolls his eyes. “Of course, I know what companions-”

“Associate, partner, buddy, pal, chum-” The Doctor interjected, listing of different synonyms for Graham who stares back with a dead look in his eye.

“What’s in the bleeding box?” Graham snapped, finally tiring of having the Oxford dictionary read out to him.

The Doctor stops her listing and looks down at it. “Well, Fam, what would you say if-” She looks back up at them. “Perhaps… maybe, got a box… with a kitten in it.”

Yaz widens her eyes at the Doctor. “You got a kitten, Doctor?”

The Doctor shrugs, eyes now looking down. “Technically… I got four kittens.”

Ryan blows out air through his mouth before opening it and stopping when a tiny ‘meow’ can be heard from the box, followed by a small chorus of them. “You have four kittens, Doctor, why?”

The Doctor kneels down at the box, flicking her eyes up at Graham as he comes closer, his face neutral and expressionless. She half expected him to make a comment about being reckless and not thinking something through, she thinks quickly, anything but this quietness from him though.

Taking her thoughts away from Graham, who is now squatting down in front of the box, she turns to Ryan. “I was only going to get one, but the other three looked so cute and sad… so I ended up with four.” She goes to add in more detail about it but pauses when she hears the box opening, a chorus of tiny voices screaming out from the box.

They each watch as Graham carefully opens it, his eyes staring down at each of the four kittens looking up at him. He reaches in and gently picks up a calico coloured one, cupping her hind legs and securing her front before bringing her to his chest and petting her small head.

“Who’s a gorgeous little girl?” He croons down at her, as she latches her tiny claws into his jumper, eyes closing contently with a purr escaping from her throat. “You are, aren’t you? Little precious thing.”

“Uh, gramps?” Ryan asked, edging closer and raising an eyebrow at the older man. “What are you doing?”

Graham ignores him, sitting down crossed legged and placing the calico in his lap, watching as she settles down. He reaches back in and picks a black and white one instead and repeating the process with them.

The Doctor cocks her head at him, a curious frown on her face. “How did you know the colourful one was a girl, Graham?”

He finally looks up, hands stroking the black and white one. “It’s easy, innit, calicoes are basically all female, it’s to do with their colours, males can be born, but it’s exceedingly rare.” Graham rattled off, his hands playing with the kittens and grinning down at them as they nibble on his fingers.

“How do you know that, Graham?” Yaz inquired, her heart melting at the sight of the kittens in Graham’s lap. She joins both the Doctor and him on the floor, her own hands reaching in and copying Graham’s motions as she takes out a small tabby.

“I had them growing up, and then a few over the years.” He stares down at the two now settled in his lap, hands going back into the box and removing the last one, a bright ginger one. “My last one passed in 2013, was gonna get another but got cancer and didn’t think it’ll be fair to have one when I might’ve been gone in a few years.” There’s a misty look in his eyes. “And then Grace, well, she was allergic to them, but I have to say, that was the one thing I did miss cause a home ain’t a home without a cat.”

Ryan groans now coming round and joining the three of them on the floor. “I swear if you start putting up ‘ _Live, Laugh, Love_ ’ saying’s round the house, gramps, I’m moving out, I don’t need to live in a home that looks like it belongs to a middle-aged white woman who complains that her latte is too hot.”

Graham glances up at Ryan, a smirk playing on his face. “Gonna go to Wilko’s tomorrow and pick them all up then, put a bunch in the bathroom, one on your door-” He quickly turns to face the Doctor, eyes wide when he realises something. “Did you get kitten food for them? And none of that crap the supermarkets sell, the good stuff. Costs a fortune but you wouldn’t want to be eating junk food day in day out, would ya? Gotta get the best for these little un’s and cat litter, not to mention all the other-”

The Doctor smiles and shakes her head at him. “My Sixth regeneration adored cats, he set up a room in the TARDIS for them, should still be around somewhere.” She frowns briefly. “My Tenth regeneration didn’t like them but-” She reaches forward, carefully taking the ginger one from Graham. “I think I like them this time round,” She smiles down at the kitten. “This one is mine, and if you three want the others then-”

Graham wastes no time in looking at the two in his lap, eyes flicking between them and then to the tabby in Yaz’ hands. “The tabby looks like they like you Yaz.”

Yaz stares up at Graham. “But I can’t have one in the flat-”

“You can keep her here Yaz; she can be a friend for _Captain Jack Jones McShane-Oswald-Pond-Potts-Tyler,_ first of his line and name, defender of the TARDIS, and most Noble of Cats.”

Graham sighs, but there’s amusement on his face. “I am not calling your cat that, how about just ‘Cap’, Doc?”

She looks down at the ginger tom in her lap, hands rubbing his face. “We’ll just go with Cap then.” She looks back up at Graham. “Have you decided?”

“Well the Tabby has a keen interest in Yaz so-” He looks down at the calico and black and white one. “I’ll have the little calico-” He frowns, eyes going to the black and white one snuggling against him. “-Oh but the black and white one is-”

Ryan clears his throat, drawing attention to himself. “I’m not sure if I should have one, what about if you just have the both of them gramps? Cause then I’ll still see them, and they’ll be together if I do move out.” He reaches over, stroking the calico. “And they both like you.”

“You sure, son?” Graham asked, not wanting to take the opportunity away from Ryan.

“Totally, too much responsibility and they’ve both settled down in your lap, would be a shame to disturbed them.”

Graham stares down at them again, both hands tickling their faces. “I’m gonna call them West and Ham.”

“Seriously?” Ryan groaned at him. “West Ham?”

Graham looks offended at his grandson. “What’s wrong with that, and anyway, they’re mine now.” He strokes the black and white one. “That’s West; the calico is Ham.”

The Doctor smiles back at Graham before turning to Yaz. “She’s if yours want her, you can keep her here. She can keep Cap happy-” She quickly glances down at him. “-as long as he’s not like his namesake.”

“Oh, yeah, gotta get them fixed.” Graham planned, the thought hitting him quickly.

“Fixed? What’s wrong with them?” The Doctor wondered.

“Spayed and neutered, Doc, hardly wanna have another two sets of kittens running around, do we?”

“Oh, that makes sense.” She turns back to Yaz again, grinning when she sees the expression on her face. “You decided to keep her?”

Yaz looks up. “I have.”

“What are you naming her?”

Yaz looks thoughtful. “I haven’t decided, but it’ll come to me, eventually… at the moment though, we should probably get them some food.”

The Doctor nods, standing up and making sure she’s got a good hold of Cap. “Then follow me, Fam, shouldn’t take too long to find the room my Sixth self set up.” She heads off as Graham and Yaz stand, both carefully holding their own cats as Ryan watches.

“Perhaps I’ll hold West for you gramps,” Ryan suggested, looking partially nervous at the idea of doing in. “If you show me how to.”

Graham flashes him a smile, passing over the kitten and showing Ryan the correct way of handling them. They might not technically be Ryan’s, but the lad will probably take to them when he realises that they’re not as fragile as he thinks they are, Graham muses.

“Come on son, Yaz is right, they’ll need food and water soon enough, and I don’t want to lose track of the Doc.”

They leave the living room as well, spotting Yaz and the Doctor upfront, both holding and looking down at their own kittens. “She did a great thing this time, but I hope she knows what she’s let herself in for, cause they’ll get everywhere… and onto literally everything, imagine a cat on the console.” He laughs, quickly following after them and missing Ryan’s wide-eyed stare at the implication.

 

 _That’s how_ Graham finds himself being woken up a few weeks later, West and Ham snuggled against him as the Doctor voices called out through the TARDIS. “ _CAPTAIN JACK JONES MCSHANE-OSWALD-POND-POTTS-TYLER,_ GET OFF THE CONSOLE THIS INSTANT-” Then a quietness before. “-AND YOU CAN STOP TEACHING YOUR SISTER HOW TO GET CUSTARD CREAMS JACK.”

There is a loud crash and a shout of indignation that makes Graham decides that that, literally isn’t his problem to deal with right now, as he reaches both hands to his own, better-behaved cats. He gives each one a pet and hears the soft purr back from them both. He smiles and then settles back down to sleep again and wishing the Doc all the luck in the world, cause she’s going to need it trying to wrangle two cats together within the TARDIS.


End file.
